The School Nutrition Association (SNA) is urging members of Congress to support the Fiscal Year 2015 Omnibus Appropriations Bill, which contains language to provide schools greater flexibility to plan healthy school meals that students will eat....More

A new School Nutrition Association (SNA) survey conducted to gauge top concerns of school meal program operators nationwide indicates the majority face multiple serious challenges under new federal nutrition standards. Additionally, more than half of school meal program operators surveyed anticipate that their program expenses will exceed revenue this school year. Only 18% anticipate their programs will break even, while 29% are unsure if costs will exceed revenue....More

Three school nutrition professionals won paid registrations to the 2015 School Nutrition Association Annual Conference, as well as a commercial size rice cooker for their school and a consumer size rice cooker for their home kitchens, in the USA Rice Federation's Healthy Brown Rice on the Menu Contest, which focuses exclusively on whole grain brown rice....More

Duval County (Fla.) Schools and Chartwells-Thompson School Dining Services, which operates the district's school meal program, have rolled out a food truck called Brainfood designed by one of the district's students,...More

Empire BlueCross BlueShield has partnered with CBS EcoMedia through its WellnessAd program to support KIPP NYC College Prep High School’s healthy meals program. Through a relationship with healthy school meals vendor Revolution Foods, KIPP NYC College Prep High School now offers students access to free and healthy breakfast, lunch and snack options. ID Media, an Interpublic Group media agency, identified the opportunity and ushered the partnership to fruition by building the program into Empire BlueCross BlueShield’s media plan....More

The Lodi (Calif.) USD has purchased a property with a 16,000 square foot building that it plans to convert into the headquarters of its foodservice department, including a new central kitchen, reports the Lodi News. Currently, meal prep is done at 10 school sites that have sufficient facilities, but another dozen do not and have get food satellited from nearby kitchens....More

Given a chance to go off campus during lunch period, high school students tend to opt for the nearest fast food joint or c-store. Students at Southridge (Wash.) High School, however, are picking a different option, the retail café at the brand new Trios Southridge Hospital located just across the street. Called Bistro 52, the eatery serves a menu of pizzas, salads, burgers, fries, grilled sandwiches, soups and entrees, many packed for grab and go....More

Orange County Public Schools Food & Nutrition Services has launched a Truck of the Month tour as the district's food truck will visit Central Florida middle and high schools, serving three new menu items selected by student vote, through December....More

School districts in California are spending millions of dollars on fresh produce and other higher quality ingredients, new equipment, upgraded facilities and additional programs and personnel such as chefs and dietitians, all prompted by a mandate from the state's Dept. of Education to ensure that excess foodservice funds are used properly, reports EdSource....More

Up to this year, Hilton Head High School, part of the Beaufort County (SC) School District, operated its lunch schedule like most high schools in this country. Each class paraded through the cafeteria, crowding the servery to get their food and then gobble it down while chatting up friends, all in a constricted 25-minute lunch period. When they left, the next troupe crowded in....More

School lunches are more nutritious than home-packed lunches, according to the results of a study published in the November-December issue of the Journal of Nutrition Education & Behavior. Researchers compared more than 750 school meals with more than 560 packed meals given to pre-K and kindergarten students in three schools and analyzed them for nutritional value over five days....More

Boston Public Schools has joined the Meatless Monday movement and will be serving meat-free dishes such black bean burrito bowls and garden fresh salads topped with chickpeas in its cafeterias on Mondays. The district enrolls more than 57,000 students at 128 school sites....More

Alexandria (VA) City Public Schools has appointed Cynthia Hormel its director of school nutrition services, succeeding Becky Domokos-Bays, who left in September to take the helm at Loudoun County (VA) Public Schools, one of the fastest growing districts in the country....More

The vice president of SNA and long-time director at Alexandria City Public Schools has moved to one of the fastest growing districts in the country and despite a late start, she’s hit the ground running....More

Fifteen California school districts, including Los Angeles USD have launched a pilot program called California Thursdays that seeks to boost the use of locally sourced ingredients in school meals. A collaboration between the Center for Ecoliteracy (CFE), participating school districts, and allied organizations, California Thursdays is part of CFE’s California Food for California Kids initiative....More

The percentage of school districts in Michigan contracting out custodial, transportation and/or food services increased slightly from the 2012-13 to 2013-14 school year, from 66.2% to 66.6%, reports the Mackinac Center for Public Policy in its latest Michigan School Privatization Survey....More

Kevin Needham, AVI Foodsystems, Inc., Resident Director at South Euclid Lyndhurst (OH) Schools, accompanied five students selected from Greenview Elementary School to join First Lady Michelle Obama in harvesting vegetables from The White House Kitchen Garden on Tuesday, October 14th. Others participating in the event included students from Harriet Tubman and Bancroft elementary schools in Washington, DC; the STAR School from Flagstaff, AZ; and Willow Cove Elementary School from Pittsburg, CA....More

Lincoln (NE) Public Schools is the only public school district to win a 2014 Golden Carrot Award from vegetarian advocacy group Physician's Committee for Responsible Medicine, joining the MUSE School CA of Calabasas, CA, and Desert Garden Montessori of Phoenix. Each received $1,500 awards to sustain their healthful K-12 school lunch programs....More